A Darby Family Vacation
by wolfwitch94
Summary: Vacation, a time for relaxation and fun, right? Not so for Val. Fate just loves to play jokes on our favorite dragon. Now Val must deal with lost lovers, a pranking poltergeist, a fortune-telling Fanta fanatic, and some wannabe witches. All leading up to a mysterious mishap on the island of Griffin Rock that forces Val to team up with a rambunctious rable of Rescue Bots.
1. Off to a Swimmingly Good Start

**Alrighty, at long last: the side story I promised. The plan is a chapter in Martha's Vineyard, a chapter in Boston, a chapter or two in Salem, and I'm not sure how many in Griffin Rock. Hope ya'll like it (and I hope this chapter actually shows up; my doc manager was being a pain in the ass) .**

**I don't own Transformers**

_"Vacation, all I ever wanted _

_ Vacation, had to get away _

_ Vacation, meant to be spent alone." _

I smiled down at Rhapsody, the little pixie-pod was twittering happily on top of Mom's beach bag. Today was the second day of our family vacation. We were currently staying in a little beachside motel on Martha's Vineyard. Yesterday was spent exploring the island; now we were just enjoying the sun, sand, and surf. And silence, I especially loved the silence. Sure there were the distant shouts and conversations of the other beachgoers, but it all faded against the gentle lapping of the waves. There were no Decepticons to deal with, no monsters to beat, no M.E.C.H. agents to chase down, and no Zig-zag or Lola to bug me. I loved my friends, really I did, but sometimes I just wanted to strangle them like Homer Simpson strangles Bart. So, yeah, I was thrilled at this chance to just spend time with Mom and Jack, the more sane members of my seemingly constantly growing family.

A muffled ringtone sounded from the beach bag. I glanced over at Mom; she was snoozing peacefully in her wooden beach chair, a floppy sun hat casting a shadow across her face. I reached into the bag and grabbed the phone, groaning when I recognized the number.

Hesitantly I hit the "accept" button. "Hello?"

"Why didn't you take the bikini I packed for you?"

I sighed. "Well hello, Lola. Nice to hear from you. And how did you get my mom's cell number?"

"Well you shut off your comm. link, so I had to find a way to contact you."

"You know, the whole point of shutting off my comm. was so I wouldn't be bothered." _By you_, I added in my head. "And that black and white polka dot eyesore is not a bathing suit; it's just several triangles sewn together with pieces of lace; it would probably disintegrate as soon as I jumped in the water."

I could practically feel Lola roll her eyes. "Well duh, it's not for swimming. It's for tanning and luring in guys."

"First off: I can't tan. Second: I don't want to lure in guys. The one "guy" that I would actually want to get the attention of isn't even here some the point is moot."

"Fine. But could you at least pick something other than a one-piece bathing suit and swim trunk combo? Why are you even wearing swim trunks?"

"They've got pockets and—hang on," I bolted upright glancing down the beach. "How do you know what I'm wearing?"

"Uh…"

My eyes narrowed. "Is Ziggy there?"

"H-hey Val." Came his timid reply from the other end of the line.

"Zig-zag, did you hack into a military satellite _again_?" I asked, glaring up at the sky.

"…Define hack."

"ZIG-ZAG!"

Mom started a little in her sleep then shifted, settling into a more comfortable position. I took a deep breath then started to talk again, keeping my voice low. "I'm not going to deal with this right now; it's my vacation. So Zig-zag, you're going to get out of whatever poor satellite you've commandeered, and you, Lola, are going to hang up and not call again unless it's a dire emergency. And when I say emergency I mean either one or both of you are dead. Goodbye now." With that I clicked the phone off and tossed it back into Mom's bag.

I shifted on my beach chair, burying my feet into the warm sand. The salty tang of the ocean drifted past me on a breeze. A gulled cried overhead. Further along the beach, two little kids chattered to each other as they built a somewhat lopsided sand castle. An old couple walked hand in hand along shore. I sighed contentedly, this was so relaxing. With my eyes drifting shut, I was on the verge of a nice nap when loud giggles drew me from my pleasant stupor. A group of bikini-clad teenage girls were huddled together talking quietly but laughing loudly. They'd look up every so often and glance down towards the water then quickly turn back to each other and begin chatting with renewed fervor. I followed their line of sight and smirked: the girls were going goo-goo eyed over my little brother.

Jack was walking along the surf, gazing out at the ocean while the girls were gazing at him. Soon a dark blonde was selected from the bunch and practically shoved toward him. The girl walked up to him, nervously glancing back at her friends. They waved her on eagerly, not at all subtle. The girl turned back, bouncing on the balls of her feet, and greeted Jack. He looked surprised but returned the greeting with a bashful smile. They started talking; if I tried hard enough I could probably listen in, but it was fun enough to just watch. The girl gestured over to her friends, undoubtedly asking Jack to join them, but dear baby Brother just blushed, shook his head, politely said goodbye, and all but ran back to where Mom and I were sitting. He sat down next to me and became fascinated in drawing patterns in the sand.

"They still looking over here?" he asked in a whisper.

I looked over at the pack of girls, all of them staring at Jack's back. "Yep." I grinned when Jack tensed. "Aww, ain't that cute? My little brother is shy—"

"Put a sock in it." Jack grumbled.

"You really should go over and talk to them, they don't look _that_ terrifying. At least, they're less scary than the sharks."

"Sharks?"

"Yeah, the great white population has been booming in this region."

"And that fact doesn't bother you?" he asked.

I shrugged "I grew up on the west coast; you just learn to deal with them. Heck, after awhile you kinda get a little blasé about it. Five footer: eh, it's just a baby. Ten footer: maybe we should stick to waist deep water. Fifteen footer: we'll just stay on the beach, thank you."

Jack stared at me in disbelief. "You're not serious, are you?"

I snorted "Hell no, if there's a shark in the water then I'm out of it."

"I don't know, trying to make friends with a shark sounds like something you'd do."

"Hey," I pointed at him. "just remember that you and I both come from the same tree: you might just end up as crazy as me one day."

Jack rolled his eyes. "That, I seriously doubt."

"Whatever." I smirked. "So are you gonna go talk to those girls?"

"Nope."

I leaned over and flicked his ear. "Idiot."

"What was that for?

"You're a teenage boy aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Then get your ass over there and talk to them, it's probably asking too much for you to _flirt_, but the least you could do is try to hold a conversation." I huffed crossing my arms.

Jack gave me a dubious look. "And how many guys did you flirt with when you were my age?"

Oh, ouch, he got me there. I stuck my tongue out at him. "None, 'cause no guy wanted to date a girl who got caught ʻtalking to herselfʼ on several occasions."

He grimaced in sympathy. "Yeah, I'm guessing the ghost thing didn't help."

"Nope."

"And I don't see how you could ever possibly go on a date with Optimus; that would kinda draw some unwanted attention."

"Yeah well—whoa, wait a minute." I sat up straight so fast my sunglasses almost fell off. "How do you know about that?" Most of the Autobots knew about my chasing after their leader, but I'd thought the kids at least were in the dark about it.

"Val, everyone knows that you and Optimus have some sort of thing going on." Jack rolled his eyes. "Even Fowler. I think the only person that doesn't know is Mom, but that's only because she hasn't spent as much time around the base, and I also think she's in a bit of denial."

"Denial?"

"Yeah, how would you feel if your kid was trying to go out with the leader of a warring alien race?"

I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. "Oh, I guess I can see where the denial would come from then."

Jack nodded. "I'm ok with it, by the way, you know, you and Optimus."

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow.

He shrugged. "Well once you find out you have an older sister who's been transmogrified into a robotic dragon that sees ghosts, everything else seems a bit superfluous."

"Ooh, big words there." I teased

"Been hanging out with Perceptor." Jack deadpanned. "My vocabulary has seriously improved because of it." He stood and stretched.

"Where you heading off to?" I asked.

"I'm going to take my chances with the sharks, might be safer." He called back, walking towards the water.

I rolled my eyes but leaned back in my beach chair. The sky above me was littered with dozens of white, puffy clouds. As I once again began to drift off, my mind started to form images from the clouds. One became a little coyote pup. Another was an armadillo. And one rather resembled the Loch Ness monster; I chuckled at that one. My eyes slid shut and I started to happily succumb to a light nap.

Until I got that distinct impression that there was someone beside me.

I cracked one eye open to see a man in his mid to late twenties sitting in the spot that Jack had recently vacated. His hair was a rusty reddish-brown and his eyes were the same sandy color as the beach. He wore jeans and a plain black t-shirt covered by a brown leather jacket. My inspection went unnoticed for some time as his gaze was focused on the water, eyes seeming to convey a soft sadness as he watched the foaming waves break along the shore. I cleared my throat and he gave a start, turning to face me.

He smiled apologetically at me. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to disturb you."

"It's fine." I sighed. Honestly, it wasn't like I _really_ wanted that nap.

The guy rubbed the back of his head absentmindedly "So I suppose you're a tourist."

"Yep. You?"

"I've lived here all my life." He said.

"Not a bad place to live. Certainly different from where I come from."

"Where are you from anyway?" he asked. "Oh I'm Ian by the way."

"I'm Val. And I'm from Nevada."

Ian raised his eyebrows. "Yikes, not much water out there."

I nodded in agreement. "Especially the part where I'm from."

"I don't think I could bear being so far from the ocean." He sighed. "It's all I've ever known."

"I can sympathize with that." I said. "I've actually spent most of my life in Seattle; I often find myself missing the water."

Ian smiled. "And how do the east coast waters compare to the west?"

I tilted my head to the side and stared out at the waves, thinking. "Older, and somewhat calmer but still just as dangerous and just as beautiful."

He nodded. "My thoughts exactly."

We slipped into silence until I shifted in my chair.

"So what is it that you need from me?" I asked, a spirit was still a spirit and they only came to my kind for one thing, and it wasn't to hold idle conversation. How did I know this guy was a ghost? His movements lacked sound, he left no impression on the sand, and he had no shadow even though the sun was blazing overhead.

Ian jumped a bit then looked contrite. "I am truly sorry for disturbing you on your vacation, but you're the first person to see me in months and I'm running out of time. I'll understand if you refuse to help but—"

I cut him off. "You're one of the few spirits I've met that actually just talked to me instead of demanding I help them. So I'm feeling more inclined to be helpful. Now what's keeping you here?"

"Well, you see there's this girl—"

"Whom you never got the chance to swear your undying love to before you kicked the bucket?" I finished blandly, I hated it when the spooks asked me to do love confessions from beyond the grave, way too awkward.

"Not exactly, Laura and I have been together most of our lives, best friends as children and high school sweethearts." Ian explained. "We grew up together on this island. We stuck together through the hardest of times. Even when her family was having money issues and almost had to move. They had to sell off some of their family heirlooms to keep afloat, including Laura's grandmother's ring." His eyes grew distant. "She loved that ring, her grandmother had left it for her; it was a perfect fit."

"So what exactly does this have to do with your dilemma?" I asked.

"Everything. Four months ago was our ten year anniversary as an official couple. I was going to ask her to marry me." His lips parted in a sad smile. "I had told Laura to meet me at the old rock jetty just outside of Edgartown; we used to play there as kids. It took me over a year to find it, but I had bought back her grandmother's ring and was going to propose with it." His eyes clouded over. "But that day the wind and surf were too strong, kicking up rather large waves, but still I wanted to go through with it. Foolish mistake on my part. I was waiting on the jetty when a massive breaker knocked me over. I cracked my head against the rocks, fell into the water unconscious, and drowned. They found my body a few hours later. They thought I had committed suicide." Ian choked up a bit. "Oh god, Laura was so devastated. And the ring, I dropped the ring among the rocks, it's still there."

"So what is it you need me to do?"

He turned to me, desperation in his eyes. "Please, Laura is leaving today; she's moving to the mainland. Please, please find the ring and return it to her."

I sat up straight. "Whoa, wait, she's leaving _today_?"

"This afternoon on the three o'clock ferry."

I checked Mom's cell for the time: it was twelve forty-eight now. Well, it wasn't like I had anything planned for the day. "So all I gotta do is find the ring and get it too her before she leaves?"

Ian nodded.

"Easiest damn thing any ghost has asked me to do."

"So you'll help me?"

I smiled. "Yeah, I'll help you out."

I stood and waved Jack over.

"What's up?" he asked jogging up.

"I gotta go help a ghostie out for a bit. Mind letting Mom know where I've gone." I paused and turned to Ian. "By the way, how far is Edgartown from here?"

"About a twenty minute bike ride from here." He said.

There was a bike rental shack right by our motel.

"Alright then, I'm off." I leaned down to grab my sneakers from where I'd placed them on the sand.

"Hold up." Jack said.

"What's wrong?"

"Uh, can I come with?" he asked.

Surprised, I stared at him. "You really want to come along?"

Jack shrugged. "Sure, why not? I've never been on any of your missions so I'm curious to see what it is you do. Besides, you're just helping a spirit out, so there's not going to be much danger right?"

"Yeah, I suppose. Well unless you consider getting chased down alleys by a pack of angry Jack Russell terriers to be dangerous."

My brother stared at me. "You were chased by a pack of Jack Russells?"

I waved away his disturbed look, and started pushing him back towards the motel. "Ziggy pissed them off. But nothing really bad has ever happened when I've helped a spirit. Well except for that one time in Los Angeles, and that other time in Denver. And there was that one incident in El Paso, but thankfully the old lady fell and bumped her head and forgot the whole thing."

"We're going to be banned from Massachusetts, aren't we?." Jack groaned.

* * *

So what was supposed to be only a twenty minute bike trip ended up taking twice as long. Why? Because we got lost and argued over which way it was to Edgartown (our first sibling fight ever, yippee). And then we discovered that there were actually four jetties in and around Edgartown. We had visited two before I finally gained some common sense and stopped to ask Ian exactly which one it was (so sue me, I'm on vacation). By the time we got to the right jetty it was one thirty-four.

"So we're supposed to find a ring in that mess?" Jack asked, eying the pile of large rocks that stretched out several hundred yards into the water.

"Like looking for a servo in a scrapheap." I grumbled.

"If it helps, the ring is in a little wooden box." Ian said.

"No that's not much of a help." I sighed. "Just tell us where you fell and we'll work from there."

I followed Ian to a spot that was several yards out into the water; Jack stuck close behind me. We picked our way over the rocks, jumping over the gaps between boulders. Thankfully the weather was calm and the waves were few and small.

Finally we reached the spot. "So here's where you fell?"

Ian nodded. "The ring is somewhere around here. I don't think it fell into the water though."

"Well that's a small relief." I turned to Jack. "Alright, start looking for a small brown box."

We scoured over every nook and cranny in that area. Minutes quickly ticked by.

"How do we know some tourist didn't find the ring and take it?" Jack called from his spot.

"We don't." I said, reaching my hand far into a crevice. "We just gotta keep—yow!" I jerked my right hand back to reveal a crap holding onto my fingers with a rather large claw. Cursing, I shook my hand furiously. The crustacean finally took the hint and let go, soaring through the air until it landed in the water with a splash. I gripped my throbbing fingers. "I hope you get steamed and served with a side of fries and tartar sauce, you jerk!"

Jack snorted. "My brave big sister beaten by Mr. Krabbs of Bikini-Bottom."

"Hardy-har." I snapped. "Just get back to searching."

Several more minutes passed, thankfully without any more run-ins with cranky crustaceans, before Jack called out: "I think I've found it!"

He was sprawled out on his stomach, half hanging over the edge of a rock to reach into a partially submerged gap. A second later he pulled out a damp, slightly moldy wooden box, a victorious grin on his sunburned face.

"And the youngest Darby gets the point." I said, high-fiving him.

He opened the lid and let out a whistled. "Not bad."

On a silver band sat a beautiful dark opal. The bands of color flashed in the sunlight and on either side of the stone sat a small diamond.

"Damn, no wonder Laura would be upset to lose this thing." I said. "I'd be bawling my eyes out."

"Thank you, thank you for finding it." Ian said.

"Well, we're not done yet. What time did you say that ferry left?" I asked.

"Three o'clock."

I fished Mom's cell, which I'd sort of borrowed, from the pocket of my swim trunks. The time read two twenty-six. Crap. "What port is she leaving from?"

"Oak Bluffs."

"Oak Bluffs? That's a good half-hour from here!" I turned to Jack. "We need to book-it out of here."

* * *

It's a good thing Martha's Vineyard is so bike friendly. The bike paths ran right along the roadways with very little detours which allowed us an almost straight shot to the port. The bad news was that Martha's Vineyard is very bike friendly so those bike paths were full of other cyclists.

And some of them had quite the potty mouths when they were cut off.

Sorry, but we were in a hurry.

We arrived just as the three o'clock ferry was shipping off. And I mean _just_ as it was shipping off. Jack tossed me the box as I hopped of my bike. I ducked and wove between station wagons and pickups, a minivan with New Jersey plates nearly ran me over. I reached the loading platform just as the ship cast off. With a burst of speed I made a running leap onto the ferry. I couldn't check my speed and ended up smacking into a shiny new Mercedes from Rhode Island.

Owie.

"You ok?" one of the crew members asked.

"I'm good." I gasped, clutching my side and staggering towards the stairs. The ferry had three levels; the first held all the vehicles from bikes to semis, the second was a waiting area and snack bar for the passengers, and the third was an open observation deck. There had to have been over several hundred people on board.

And I didn't even know what Laura looked like.

Turned out, I didn't need to 'cause right then Ian showed. "I've found her she's on the third level."

"Lead the way." I sighed.

I followed him up to the observation deck, past the crowds of tourists and daily commuters. We reached the back of the ferry when Ian pointed her out. Laura stood staring back at Martha's Vineyard, her posture emanating grief but her eyes shed no tears. They looked too tired to cry anymore. I approached her slowly, thinking of the best way to bring up the subject.

I took up a spot along the railing beside her and gazed out at the slowly shrinking shoreline. "Beautiful isn't it? Such a shame to leave a place like that."

Laura was silent.

"I mean, if I lived in a place like that I wouldn't—"

"I'm sorry but I'm not up for any small talk with strangers right now." She said. "Please leave me alone." She turned and walked along the deck, keeping one hand on the railing. Ian motioned wildly for me to follow her.

Ah, hell there was no nice way to do this, might as well get it done and over with. "Hey wait up!" I called, walking quickly to catch up.

"I asked you to leave me alone."

I swung up onto the railing, perching on the metal beside her. "He didn't commit suicide."

Laura stopped short, eyes wide and staring straight forward.

"Ian didn't kill himself. He loved you too much to ever even think the subject." I said. I looked up and saw Ian nodding encouragingly.

Laura slowly turned to face me. "W-what…how do you even know about that?"

"You won't believe me if I told you, trust me." I brought out the box. "He didn't go to that jetty to kill himself, he went there to propose to you." I lifted the lid and showed the ring. "With this."

Laura placed a hand over her mouth and started to shake. "No, that's not, that can't be…"

"Your grandmother's ring." I finished for her. "He found it and bought it back as a surprise for you."

She began to cry as she took the ring and slid it on her ring finger of her left hand. "Ian…what am I supposed to do now?"

I looked back at Ian. "Tell her to live her life; to enjoy every moment and to love to the fullest." Ian instructed. "And tell her not to worry over me anymore, I'm just glad to know she's alright."

I relayed his message, feeling like a corny psychic from one of those sappy romance movies.

Laura gave me a watery smile. "Thank you, whoever you are."

I sighed. "I'm just someone who came to help." I glanced back at the distant port of the Oak Bluffs and froze. "And I'm also someone who should be sleeping on a beach chair on that island right now! Crap! How do you turn this thing around?"

"You can't you'll just have to wait until we make port and buy another ticket."

"Ticket? I don't have any money! Hell, I jumped ship just to get here! How am I supposed to get back?" I threw my hands in the air in frustration.

Yeah, I really needed to watch what I say, ʼcause fate really likes to prank me.

Figures, not a second after those words left my mouth, a strong sea breeze rocked the ship, knocking me off balance. With my arms wind-milling through the air in a pathetic attempt to keep my balance, I slipped off the railing. My last thought as I went overboard was: _man, I hope it's not jellyfish season_.

* * *

"I'm not talking to you for the rest of the trip!" I grumped as I walked, still soaked, back to our motel room.

"Aw, c'mon Val, it wasn't that bad." Jack said, though he failed to keep the laughter out of his voice.

"Not talking!"

After I'd managed to swim back to shore (thankfully with no encounters with any of Jaw's relatives), I'd staggered back onto land and tracked down my brother. Good news was that I was wearing my swimming suit so it didn't matter that I was wet. Bad news was I had also been wearing my sneakers, which weren't so waterproof; in fact I had lost one. So what did Jack do when I had finally met up with him? Did he ask if I was ok? No! The idiot whipped out his phone, which I didn't even know he had with him, took a picture of me water-logged with seaweed in my hair and missing a shoe, and sent it to everyone back home. If that's what little brothers were about then I wasn't sure I wanted one.

"You know, if I wasn't human I could've been seriously hurt." I snapped at him as we stopped in front of our door.

"But you're not so I didn't need to worry." Jack pointed out. "And I though you weren't talking to me?"

I glared at him and went to open the door, but it swung open before I could touch the handle. Mom took in the sight of us and breathed a sigh of relief. Rhapsody was perched on her shoulder, giggling as the pixie-pod had no doubt gotten the picture as well.

"I was getting worried, I was sure you were off exploring but I couldn't find my cell to get in contact with you two."

I stiffened then slowly reached into the pocket of my swim trunks. Grimacing, I brought out a fritzing cell phone that was more soaked than I was. "Ah yeah, I can replace that."

Jack burst out into another round of laughter as Mom just stared at me with a confused look.

I really hoped the rest of the vacation was easier than this.

**Oh Val, if only you knew. Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. I'm thinking maybe, MAYBE, I'll have the next one up by Saturday (but you know the whole end-of-the-world thing might get in the way, plus I have a ton of last minute Christmas shopping to do. **

**Best wishes, **

**Wolfwitch**


	2. The Problem with Room 217

**URGH! Life just sucks sometimes. Sorry for the lack of updates, but you know, you plan to do one thing and then life just likes to throw it's little monkey wrenches into everything. Now I have less than a week before I go back to college. So I'm going to focus most of my efforts and time into completing this little ficlet. Sorry if this chapter isn't so good, I was channeling a lot of frustration. Plus it's been a couple of years since I visited Boston so I'm a little fuzzy on the details. **

**I don't own Transformers.**

"Come on, pick up, pick up, pick up!" I growled into my comm. link as I peeked my head over the couch only to have to duck back down as a large lamp came sailing through the air.

Finally the line crackled to life. :Hello?: came the familiar cranky tone of the Autobot CMO.

"Ratchet? Hey it's Val, uh I kinda need to ask you a question."

:What?:

"The groundbridge releases energy when opened right?" I squeaked as a glass vase shatter against the wall above my head.

:In small increments, yes,: Ratchet said. :When dealing with any form of bridging technology there is always some energy output, though ground—:

"Yeah yeah yeah, I don't really have time for the full length explanation right now." I snapped, rolling to the side as the couch I'd been hiding behind was upended.

:What is going on over there?: Ratchet asked.

"Uh I'm just um uh…ok I can't think of an excuse. But I need to ask you a favor."

:What kind of favor?: suspicion clear in his voice.

"Um I sort of need you to open a groundbridge."

:Where?:

"In our hotel room." I mumbled.

The line was quiet for a moment before Ratchet let out a wearied sigh. :What did you get yourself into _this_ time?:

"Just some really crummy luck. And a really bad hotel room."

* * *

**Less Than Twenty-four Hours Earlier **

"I. Hate. Traffic." I groaned as I dropped face-first onto the couch of our hotel room.

What would've been just over an hour drive into Boston had taken a stunning six hours and thirty-seven minutes. The roads had been at a standstill for hours when an eighteen wheeler carrying hundreds of live chickens had overturned, causing a pileup. Miraculously, no one had gotten killed, just a few broken bones and some very angry hens. The wreckage had taken hours to clean up though and, as many people know, patience is not my strongpoint. Though it was rather funny watching the police chase the few chickens that had escaped during the crash. But needless to say, I was in a fowl—I mean _foul—_mood.

Jack made a beeline for the bathroom, carrying his bag with him. "I can't seem to get that smell of chickens off me."

"You think you have it bad? I've got an enhanced sense of smell and I am seriously regretting it right now." I called, rolling over and reaching for the remote.

"Come on now, so our plans got a little derailed, there's no need to be so glum." Mom said, carrying her suitcase into the next room that held two beds (Jack would be stuck sleeping on the pull out couch, ha ha).

"How many nights are we supposed to stay in Boston?" I asked.

"Just two: tonight and tomorrow night, but we'll be able to do tons of stuff tomorrow," Mom said as she walked back out of the bedroom. "We can hit most of the historical sites and…" she trailed off when I gave stared dully at her. "Not interesting to you, is it?"

"What gave it away?" I deadpanned.

Mom sighed and sunk onto the couch, I sat up to give her room. "I guess I should have realized that. It's just been so long since I've really been on a vacation that I guess I'm out of practice at what to do."

"Want a hint?" I asked.

Mom nodded.

"Nothing." I smiled. "You're supposed to do nothing, just relax and have fun and let the chips fall where they may."

"What about the itinerary?"

I shrugged. "We can still stick to it, but we don't need to have every minute of every hour planned out. Besides, planning and I don't get along very well. For all we know this trip could end with me stuck in a Canadian prison."

Ok, wrong thing to say.

Mom stared at me in horror.

I held up my hands. "Mom relax, it was joke."

Though with my luck, we could never be entirely sure.

"So what are we going to do then?" Mom asked.

"Not sure. There was an information desk down at the lobby; you might want to check that out. I do want to visit Harvard though."

"Why do you want to visit Harvard?"

I grinned evilly. "To rub it in Ziggy's face, he's not allowed within a half mile of Cambridge and its surrounding areas. It's a long story." I added when I saw the slightly disturbed look on Mom's face.

"Alright then, I'll go downstairs and take a look at the info desk. Can you ask your brother what he wants for dinner when he gets out of the shower?" Mom asked just as the sound of running water echoed from the bathroom.

I gave her a thumbs-up. "No problem."

I flicked on the TV as she left. I took off my jacket and chucked it onto the couch next to me. There was a muffled chirr from one of the pockets as Rhapsody poked her head out.

"Oops, sorry Rhap' forgot you were in there." I held out my hand for the little pixie-pod.

She clambered up my arm to my shoulder where she proceeded to play with my hair as I flipped through the channels. AMC was doing a _Walking Dead_ marathon; thanks, but no thanks I had enough dead, walking, talking, or otherwise, in my life. _Doctor Who_ was on Syfy; tempting but I had more than my fill of aliens. I quickly changed it from _Top Gear_ when I saw that the car they were showcasing was of very similar make and model to a certain vain Decepticon medic. My quest for a show eventually led me to one of the channels that played reruns of oldies. I was just getting into an episode of _M*A*S*H_ when static laced the screen. The picture got fuzzier as I heard the toilet in the bathroom flush several times then Jack yelped in surprise. A moment later the water shut off and I could hear him stumbling and cursing.

Jack stomped out of the bathroom in his boxers and a towel draped over his shoulders just as the TV snapped to normal. He glowered at me. "Real mature, Val."

I, in all my fine diction, said. "Huh?"

Jack crossed his arms. "Seriously, are you five?"

"Huh?"

"Are you trying to get back at me for the picture thing? 'Cause I would think you'd be a bit more creative than that."

"Huh?"

"Don't play dumb."

I looked at Rhapsody who simply shrugged. I turned back to look at my brother. "No, this is me actually being dumb. What are you going on about?"

"You flushed the toilet while I was in the shower!" Jack huffed. "Do you know how hot the water gets?"

"I didn't flush the toilet." I said. "I've been channel surfing this entire time, and didn't you have the door locked?"

"So one of your spirits did it."

I shook my head. "I wouldn't abuse my powers like that. Besides, Euros and Zephyros don't have that kind of control; they'd end up creating a mini tornado in the bathroom. Bast hates water, so she wouldn't willingly go in there just to pull a prank. And Anansi considers it beneath him to pull such a childish joke; he may be a trickster but he has class."

Jack grumbled and turned on his heel to go back to the bathroom, only to stop short at the doorway. "What the—Val, I think you should see this."

I sighed and walked over to him. Whatever retort I had was silenced as I looked into the bathroom. Jack's bag was open and all his clothes tossed about. On the steamed up mirror, a smiley face with little X's for eyes was drawn along with the words _Leave now or face the consequences. _

I turned to fix Jack with a look. He held up his hands in defense. "Wasn't me I swear."

There was a soft snickering off to my right. I followed the noise but saw nothing. The lights began flickering; the light switch was moving on its own.

"Tell me that's you." Jack muttered, deaf to the laughter that was growing louder.

"_Very superstitious…_" Rhapsody chirped.

"Sadly, no." I grumbled. Well this was just fan-friggin'-tastic, we end up in the one hotel room that already has a tenant. "Pick up your clothes; I'll deal with our unwelcomed guest later." I exited the bathroom just as Mom came back.

She was smiling, her hands full of brochures. "You wouldn't believe all the stuff there is to do here."

"Yeah, I'm sure this town is really hopping." I said distractedly. "Hey Mom, this is a pretty nice hotel in a pretty nice part of Boston. I'm sure it wasn't very cheap to book a room here."

"Well that's the funny thing, the hotel itself is rather pricey, but this room had an incredibly low rate. The woman I'd spoken to said that this room wasn't very desirable. Can't imagine why though."

I narrowed my eyes at the sound of chuckling, now distinctly male. "Oh, I can think of a few reasons."

* * *

Later that evening, after Mom had drifted off to sleep, Jack and I sat in front of the TV not watching but waiting.

Waiting for our ghostly guest to make the first move.

"You sure he's still here?" Jack asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

"Pretty sure?"

"Something's off about this one. His presence doesn't feel like that of a normal ghost's." I said.

"That's 'cause I ain't like any other ghost, cutie." A voice piped up. "Just like you ain't like any other chick."

I turned toward the voice and grimaced. "You've gotta be kidding me."

"Don't tell me he's all disfigured and rotten looking." Jack grumbled.

"No it's worse; he has a mullet." I sighed.

The guy was maybe a bit older than Jack and looked like he'd just stepped out of a late eighties music video, complete with a baggy leather jacket and that infamous "business in the front, party in the back" hairstyle that later generations would cringe at. Though the image was ruined by his thick rimmed glasses and incredibly skinny stature.

"It ain't that bad." The apparition grumbled running a hand through his brown hair.

I shrugged. "I like the eighties for the music not the fashion, all I'm saying."

The ghost rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and it's just been great looking like this for the last thirty or so years."

"My sympathies, but is that any reason to harass guests while they're in the bathroom?"

He laughed. "It helps with the boredom. That was just a prelude; I had tons more fun planned. But I can't really pull them off now that you're here."

"And how is it you know what I am?" I asked.

"You're not the first person to visit that can see me. There was a guy ten years ago, had the two different eyes and everything."

"And he didn't do anything about you?"

"Nope." The ghost shook his head. "He even said to keep at it, though he did offer me a job, some sort of contract thing. He said he could really use a spirit like me."

That was interesting. A _Spiritus_ that was recruiting ghosts? And not only that but encouraging bad behavior? Not normal. It was part of a _Spiritus'_ job to help a lost soul find peace, not advise it to stick around, and contracts with human ghosts were forbidden, not to mention useless. A ghost couldn't do much as compared to a spirit. It would take centuries before a ghost could have enough strength to even tip a cup over.

"Why did he want to form a contract with you?" I asked.

"Because I can do this." The ghost leaned down and scooped up the remote, waving it in front of Jack's face. My brother gave a start as he watched the remote seemingly dance through the air on its own.

"That shouldn't be possible." I murmured.

"But it is." He shrugged. "I've been doing this since I ʻwoke upʼ like this and saw my body on the floor."

"And how did you end up like this?" I asked.

The apparition scrunched his face in concentration. "I…can't remember."

"Well, what's your name then?"

"Can't remember that either."

I frowned; it was one thing for a ghost to forget how they died, if the experience was traumatic for them they would often repress their memories. But for one to forget their name…I'd never heard of a ghost forgetting their own name. "So why are you here then?"

He brightened at that. "I know that one: to ruin this hotel. Not doing too good of a job though; I can only really stay in this room and the hallway, can't get into any of the other rooms or onto any other floors. It's a pain in the ass, let me tell you. Most of the time I just bother the cleaning staff or trip up people in the hall, I'll pull the fire alarm a few times a month."

I sighed and rubbed my forehead. "So you can go out into the hall?"

"Yeah."

"Good, stay out there for the night. I could really do with a good night's sleep and I won't be getting any if I know you're hovering around." I grumbled.

"You can't just make me leave." He protested.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Would you like to test that theory?" my voice colder than an arctic winter.

"Ok, ok I'm going." He disappeared and I felt his presence leave the room.

I groaned. "Sometimes the dead need to take vacations too."

"Is he gone?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, but not far and not permanently." I sighed. "This guy has hardly any memory except for some petty revenge scheme against this hotel."

"Why?"

I shrugged. "Could be because of somebody who worked here or affiliated with this place. I don't know for sure."

"You going to find out?"

"Do I have too?" I whined. "I'm on vacation for crying out loud!"

Jack fixed me with a look. "Really? You're just going to leave this guy floating around? You're not the least bit curious as to how he got like that?"

Damn it, why'd the kid have to go and say that?

"Fine." I grouched. "I'll look into it. But after we go sightseeing tomorrow. I still intend to actually enjoy this vacation!"

* * *

The next day we traveled around Boston, taking in the sights. We took one of those land to water vehicle tours around the harbor (they're called duck tours, not sure why, they look nothing like ducks); we walked along some of Freedom trail to Paul Revere's house and the old north church; we stopped by some of the shops along south Market street (I kinda had too since Lola threatened severe pain if I didn't return with at least one souvenir for her); and of course we visited that IV League campus where I bought a Harvard sweatshirt in Zig-zag's size just to piss him off.

Around Three-thirty Mom and Jack were debating where to go for a late lunch when Jack gave me the look. I sighed and turned to Mom. "Hey, I've got to go back to the hotel for a bit. How 'bout I meet up with you guys after you eat?"

"Why? What's wrong?" Mom asked.

"Uh, Rhapsody has been acting a bit fritzy lately, so I was going to contact Ziggy and Que and see if they could give me a hand, she doesn't exactly come with an instruction manual." Jack and I had agreed not to tell Mom about the other guest in our room. Especially since she hadn't been exactly thrilled about the ferry incident at Martha's Vineyard.

Mom frowned. "Is she going to be ok?"

"She'll be fine, probably just caught a bug of some sort." Wincing slightly when I felt a sharp, indignant poke in my side from where the pixie-pod rested in my jacket pocket. "I'll just let Ziggy know and see what he can do, no worries."

"Well we can come with you—"

"Uh Mom," Jack jumped in. "You know Val can't eat; I don't think it'd be fair to have to sit there and watch us eat."

Mom nodded. "I suppose so. Are you ok with that, Val?"

"Absolutely, don't worry yourself over me, Mom." I was already hailing a taxi. "I'll see you in an hour or two, bye." I hopped into the yellow car just as it pulled up. I looked back as it pulled away to see Mom giving Jack a shrewd look.

Yeah, she knew something was up.

The drive back to the hotel took hardly any time. There was very little activity in the lobby and only one employee sat behind the concierge desk.

I walked over to her, thinking of the best way to put my question. "Uh hi."

"Hello, may I help you with something?" the woman glanced at me in boredom.

"Yeah, uh see I've been noticing some strange things happening in our room…"

"And what is your room number?"

I ran a hand through my hair. "Two-seventeen."

The woman paled, her mouth forming an "o". "Ah…that room. Um, will you excuse me for a moment?"

She disappeared behind an employees only door and left me standing awkwardly by the counter, tapping my fingers against the wood. About ten minutes later dapperly dressed man in his early forties approached me.

He held out his hand. "Hello, I'm Brent Capson, owner of this hotel."

Looks like they sent me the head honcho himself.

"Val Darby." I said, shaking his hand.

"So I hear you are having some issues with your room, two-hundred and seventeen is it?" he led me to a set of chairs in a corner of the lobby.

"Just the usual stuff, problem with the TV, the pipes rattle a bit, oh and that whole thing about the room being haunted." I deadpanned.

I saw Mr. Capson try to hide a grimace. "Well this hotel is over seventy-five years old, it's bound to have a few quirks—"

"And do all the other quirks have mullets and shoulder pads?"

Mr. Capson stared at me. "Is this some kind of joke? Are you after money, 'cause you can just—"

"I'm not after anything except some peace and quiet. So what can you tell me about the resident haunt?"

"His name is Trevor Marklin, died in nineteen eighty-nine." Capson said, sinking into a seat as I took the chair opposite of him.

"Well you ought to tell him that, since he can't seem to remember it himself." I pointed out.

Capson shook his head, guilt filled his eyes. "I can't go in that room, not since after they found him in there."

"Murdered?"

"No, he had committed suicide." Capson murmured.

"You seem to know quite a bit about this." I said.

"Because it's my fault that he did that to himself." Grief was eminent in his features. "You never realize how much of an asshole you are until you cause the loss of a life. Trevor and I went to high school together, though we were far from friends."

"Let me guess, Trevor was the nerdy outcast—"

"And I was the star jock on campus. I was head quarterback of our team, homecoming king and all that jazz, and my family owned one of the best hotels in the city. But I was just a big fish in a small pond. I knew that I'd end up taking the family business; I'd never really make a mark in life. But Trevor, that kid was bright; he was going to go far. I guess it was jealousy that made me act the way I did toward him. I never hated him; I never thought those pranks really offended him. It was just the usual stupid shit all high school kids get into, you know? Then one day he just didn't show up to school. When I'd stopped by the hotel afterward I saw the police outside. One of the cleaning staff had found his body. He'd downed half a bottle of sleeping pills. I guess he thought that dying in my family's hotel would be a way of getting back at me. He was right about that in some way."

"Well Trevor might've gotten himself into more trouble." I said. "He's stuck in that room."

"I know."

I arched an eyebrow. "You do?"

Capson glanced at me. "You're not the first to see him."

"There was a guy ten years ago, right?"

He nodded. "Offered to help me, for a handsome fee of course but he ended up doing nothing. When I asked all he said was, ʻThe boy doesn't want to enter a contract. And poltergeists are too much trouble to get rid of than they're worth, you're on your ownʼ and he just left." Capson sighed. "It's not that I want Trevor gone, I just…I just want him to be at peace. I made his life hell while he was living, and I know I'm the reason why he's sticking around when he should be moving on to better things."

I frowned, thinking of what he'd said. "Hold up, did you say poltergeist?"

"Yes that's what—"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Sir, but there's a call for you." An employee appeared at Capson's side.

The owner sighed and stood. "Please excuse me for a moment."

That was fine by me; I had some thinking to do. A poltergeist, the word brought up old horror movies, scary stories, and that Peeves guy from the _Harry Potter_ book series, but what was a poltergeist exactly? I leaned back in my chair as I accessed the data packet that held everything known to the _Spiritus_ about the otherworldly creatures that inhabited this planet alongside us. This "encyclopedia of monsters," though jumbled and sometimes incomplete, has saved my rear-end more than a few times. I stumbled upon the information for poltergeists, frowning as I read.

**Poltergeist:** _There is no conclusive research as to how a poltergeist is created. A human spirit stuck in this world would take centuries to develop the ability to move physical objects. And yet a poltergeist, who, while living, is just as human as his or her neighbors, has this ability upon death. There is no way to track who becomes a poltergeist, it is not a biological trait. In all appearances it is a randomly occurring event. But upon death the poltergeist spirit often forgets much of its identity and is no longer human thus it is unable to crossover to the world beyond. Poltergeists often become residual haunts, that is, they often become trapped in the place they died. Emotional triggers can unbalance a poltergeists powers and cause massive amounts of destruction. Normal methods of Expulsion do not work on such a creature, however it has been proven that large quantities of energy can disorient and often tear the poltergeist from its haunt. _

Trevor was stuck here unable to crossover. The poor guy was going to be trapped in that room forever and no amount of pranks would make up for that. How was I supposed to tell him that?

"Hey Val!"

I looked up to see Mom and Jack entering the hotel. I stood and walked over to them. "How was lunch?"

"Great. We found this nice little organic tofu place." Mom smiled.

Jack was grimacing behind her.

"That's nice," I noticed the employee that had pulled Mr. Capson away walk by. "Hang on a sec." I walked over to the guy. "Excuse me, where is Mr. Capson?"

"Oh, he finished his call then headed to second floor."

I stiffened. "Second floor?"

The man nodded. "Yes he said something about finally doing something about room two-seventeen. About time too, you have no idea how much the cleaning staff complain about that room."

The guy walked off, completely unaware of the look of horror on my face. _Emotional triggers can unbalance a poltergeists powers and cause massive amounts of destruction._ What could be more of an emotional trigger than having an old bully come to visit?

"Val, are you alright?" Mom came to stand beside me.

"Yeah," I squeaked then cleared my throat. "Yeah, I just remembered I forgot something in the room."

"Well we're heading up that way anyway so—"

"NO!" I yelled, making Mom jump. I lowered my voice. "Uh it's just," I searched the lobby looking desperately for something. My eyes landed on a sign pointing toward the hotel spa. "I just saw that they had free zumba classes. Didn't you want to try zumba, Mom? You should go check it out."

"But—"

"Jack why don't you take her to the classes." I said through gritted teeth, giving my brother a pointed look.

He nodded. "Got it." He started to steer Mom towards the spa. "Let's go have a look."

"Rhapsody," the little pixie-pod stuck her head out of my pocket. "Follow them, keep Mom away from the room as long as you can." No telling how this was going to go down.

Rhapsody saluted and buzzed off, dodging behind potted plants whenever a person walked by.

With Mom and Jack out of the way, I hurried up to second floor, skipping the elevators in favor of bolting up the stairs. I skidded into the hallway and almost ran past the door to our room. The door was ajar. I opened it to find Mr. Capson looking around the room.

"Trevor? Trevor are you here?" he called out.

"What are you doing? Get out of here!" I snapped.

"I'm trying to fix this myself."

I rolled my eyes. "You're gonna end up having to fix your whole hotel if you don't get out of here right now."

"Who's that?" Trevor appeared beside Capson, staring at him in confusion. "Who's he calling?"

"Um, you." I said. Capson followed my gaze though he could see nothing.

Trevor frowned. "Me? My name's Trevor?" his gaze became distant. "Yeah, yeah it's Trevor. But how does he know that?"

"Trevor? If you can hear me, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything I did to you." Capson said.

Trevor squinted at him. "I…I know this guy."

"Trevor, it's Brent Capson, we went to high school together."

"Ok, Capson you really need to shut up and get out." I snarled, walking slowly toward him, keeping Trevor in my sights.

Trevor gave a start at the name then began to tremble. "Brent Capson…Brent…you…you…son of a bitch!" The TV shattered.

"And there's the emotional trigger." I growled as I pushed Capson to the ground, glass falling on top of us.

The furniture began to shake.

"Trevor please, I'm so sorry!" Capson yelled.

"You can beg for forgiveness later." I snapped, hauling him to his feet and pushing him to the door. "But for now, stay out!" I shoved him out into the hallway, slamming the door shut and locking it. I turned back to the shaking poltergeist. "This is not gonna be fun."

Trevor snarled, his eyes now white, and sent a coffee table soaring through the air at me.

* * *

"So yeah, I've been playing a rather dangerous version of dodge ball with an emotionally unhinged poltergeist for the past half hour while trying to think up a way to stop him. The thing that I could think of that would send enough energy to throw him off would be a ground bridge. So how 'bout it Ratch?" I asked, ducking to dodge a chair. "Care to lend me a hand?"

:You want me to open a groundbridge in the middle of a building full of humans?:

"I'm the only one in the fragging room! Just lock onto my coordinates an open up the bridge for a minute or two, that's all it'll take."

:I still don't think—:

I huffed. "I was hoping to save this as a ʻget out of jail free cardʼ but you leave me no choice. I have hidden somewhere a list of all the projects that Que and Ziggy have been working on, including their Hatchet Early Warning System that they installed so that they know when you're coming. If you help me, I will tell you where that list is, and trust me there's definitely some banned stuff on that little piece of paper."

Ratchet took a moment to think it over. :Deal.:

"Alright, wait for my signal." I crept out of my hiding spot.

Trevor was hovering in the middle of the room, vibrating like a phone that had gotten far too many text messages.

"Trevor, I'll only say this once: calm down."

"How can you tell me to do that?" he demanded. "It's because of him that I'm stuck like this!"

I shook my head. "Capson may be guilty of tormenting you, but he only bears part of the blame. You chose to take your own life."

"He made my life hell!"

"You think you're the only one who had it rough? News flash: high school is hell! That's just the way it is. But you can't just give up; you've got to rise above all that shit. Yeah, I know it sounds cliché but it's true. Now's your second chance to rise above, to be the better man. So please, stop before this goes any further."

Trevor gritted his teeth. "I…I can't…I don't know how."

"Then there's only one option left." I said. "Ratchet, now!"

The room glowed with green light as the groundbridge flashed open. Trevor shrieked as his image began to flicker. His body got fuzzier and fuzzier until something snapped, making a sound like the breaking of a guitar's strings and Trevor dropped to the ground.

"That's enough, you can shut the bridge down." I said.

:The list?:

"In my quarters, taped to the back of my dresser."

I shut of the comm. link and slowly approached Trevor. With a sigh I sat down beside him. He didn't move.

"You ok?" I asked.

His fingers twitched. "I…I'm not sure. I feel lighter somehow. If that makes sense." He sat up slowly. "That tunnel of light was that…"

I snorted. "No that is not the way to heaven, trust me." It was the way to a grouchy medic and a soon to be pissed off inventor and hacker.

In other words, it was my gateway to hell.

Trevor looked around dazedly. "Uh so what's supposed to happen now?"

"Don't know, but I'm pretty sure you can leave this hotel room now."

"And…move on?"

I turned away, not sure how to answer him, not wanting to upset him again.

"I can't move on, can I?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I don't know why that is but you're a poltergeist, they're not even categorized as human spirits anymore. But…that doesn't make you bad or anything, it may even be a good thing. You've been cooped up in this room for too long, you should get out and see the world."

"While I'm still young? Oh wait, I'll always be young." He sighed.

"Like I said, you've just got to rise above this, figuratively speaking. You just gotta figure out what you want to do. And what do you want to do?"

Trevor's gaze grew distant. "I want to go, just go, leave this place far behind me."

"Then go! Go and check out the world, it's changed quite a bit in the past twenty or so years, particularly the hair styles."

He rolled his eyes. "Ha ha your _hair-_larious."

"Comedy is how I deal with the shit in my life."

"I guess if I'm gonna leave, might as well be now." Trevor stood up. "I'm not exactly ready to deal with Brent yet."

I nodded.

"So is this a goodbye for good or a so long for now?"

I sighed. "Probably the latter."

Life likes to laugh at me, so I was sure I'd be meeting Trevor sooner or later.

"Hey, you know I don't think I caught your name." Trevor said.

"Val."

He held out his hand. I placed mine against it and to my surprise he grasped and shook my hand. "Val, it's been fun, but it's time for me to beat it."

With that he walked out of the room, fading as he walked through a wall.

Loud voices argued out in the hall just as the door swung open. Mom stopped short and stared, Jack stood behind her while Mr. Capson struggled to pull them back out into the hallway.

Mom's voice was oddly high pitched as she looked around the room. "What the hell happened here?"

Mom had cursed; things were serious. I followed her gaze and cringed: it looked like a twister on Redbull had come through our room.

Ok brain, now was the time to come up with something.

Mom fixed me with a look.

Yeah, brain? You really need to start working now.

"Uh…rats." I said.

"Rats?" Mom asked dubiously.

I nodded. "Yeah, you just missed it; freakiest thing I've ever seen. This huge herd of rats just came in here and tore everything up. I'm telling you these things were friggin' _huge_."

Mom crossed her arms. "And where are these rats now, Valerie?"

How was it possible that this woman could make me feel like a toddler that had just gotten in trouble? "Um, gone?"

"Where?"

"Uh, out the window?" This plan was deteriorating fast.

"So this huge pack of rats just ransacked our room and then jumped out the window?" Mom was sporting a look that would have even Megatron running to the hills, crying.

"Yep, but they're all gone now." I fixed Capson with a look. "They're all _gone_."

The owner jolted then busied himself with distracting Mom, stammering apologies and promising an upgrade.

* * *

And so we got to stay in a suite for the rest of our time in Boston. Not that we did much, since most of it was spent with Mom chewing Jack and me out for lying to us. Then she chewed us out some more after we'd told her what had really been going on (parents, there's just no winning with them). Then she stormed off to take a long bubble bath in the Jacuzzi. The Jacuzzi that we got because we'd been upgraded to a suite because I got rid of a poltergeist.

I would've pointed that out to Mom except I didn't want to risk another shouting session.

So I found myself once again sitting on a couch flipping through channels.

"Oh, I forgot to ask. How did the whole zumba thing go?" I turned to Jack, who'd been sitting beside me.

He groaned. "She knew something was up, so she had me participate. It was not a pretty sight."

"Shame, I would've liked to have seen that." I smirked.

"Trust, no one wants to see me do that dance."

"You mean this dance." I held up Rhapsody, in IPod mode, and showed a little video of Jack attempting to do some fast beat samba dance.

Either that or he was having a seizure standing up.

I chuckled as I watched him crash into the instructor. "I guess Ziggy forgot to mention that Rhapsody could also record videos." I looked up to see Jack staring at me in horror.

"Tell me you did not send that to everyone back home." He squeaked.

"I did not send this to everyone back home." I smiled, watching Jack relax some. "Rhapsody did."

"WHAT?!"

I grinned at him. "Payback's a bitch, Baby Brother."

**Next stop Salem. I'm looking forward to that one much more (I'm adding a little twist to the town that you might not expect). And then the beginning of the Griffin Rock arc. **


	3. To See Through Golden Eyes

**An update in under 24 hours?! Le gasp! How is this even possible? Actually it's 'cause I hid in my room all day to avoid my little sister who has a cold. So anyway, here's Val's take on Salem. Enjoy. **

**Oh, and you should know that this chapter contains some hints about what might happen later in Valiant Spark (that is, when I get back to writing the dang thing, curse ye writers block!).**

**I don't own Transformers. **

"Val if you keep bouncing in your seat you're going to bust a hole through the roof of the car." Jack said from his spot in the front passenger seat.

I tried to stop fidgeting. "Sorry, I'm just so excited!"

Mom gave me a confused look in the rearview mirror. "To go to Salem? I would think it's the last place you'd want to visit."

Jack nodded. "Yeah, considering it's one of the most haunted places in the U.S." He frowned when I started to laugh. "What's so funny?"

"It's not."

"It's not what?" Jack asked.

I snickered. "It's not haunted."

Jack shook his head in disbelief. "You're saying Salem isn't haunted? Oh come on, there've been hundreds of ghost sightings and disturbances, plus, you know, the whole Salem Witch Trials thing."

"I'm telling you the place hasn't got a single wandering ghost in it." I smiled. "Ella explained it to me. The land that Salem is built on is, pardon the pun, a dead zone for ghosts: they can't get in Salem or its surrounding areas."

"How's that possible?" Mom asked.

I shrugged. "No one's quite sure, but there are places like that all over the world, ghosts just can't get in them. Only spirits bound in contracts can enter."

"I can imagine, then, that places like Salem would be popular for _Spiritus_." Mom said.

"Yep, it provides a safe haven from the nuisances of ghostly visitors. Salem has over a dozen resident _Spiritus_ with many more that visit throughout the year." I explained. "And after what's happened the past few days, I'm very much looking forward to a visit to Salem."

Mom smiled. "I guess I should've planned for us to stay more than one night then."

"Now hang on." Jack frowned in thought. "What about all those ghost sightings and incidents?"

I smirked. "That's kind of an insider's joke: about a hundred years back the local _Spiritus_ realized that the whole spook factor was pretty good at luring in tourists. So they put some of their spirits to work causing little disturbances throughout the town."

"Were they behind the witch trials?" Jack asked.

"Nope, they had nothing to do with that. The trials were just a result of politics, good old fashion superstition, and a delusional hysteria caused by a fungus that grew on grain." I had done a whole report on the trials in high school.

Jack was still persistent. "But people have claimed to have seen the victims of the trials wandering around."

"The mind sees what it wants to see." I said. "That and maybe the spirits might help the whole image thing along."

"Aren't they kind of conning the people?" Mom asked.

I shrugged. "There's no harm in it. The visitors get a kick out of it and the people of Salem get some good business."

The rest of the drive was spent debating over the history of Salem and how the _Spiritus_ may have affected it (Jack had scoffed when I insisted that Nathaniel Hawthorne, though not able to see ghosts himself, was descended from a long line of _Spiritus _on his mother's side). I knew the moment we passed through the barrier of Salem: a cool, tingling rush filled me and I sighed in relief. We entered the town and found the inn Mom had booked. After we'd checked in, we spent the day walking around Salem. We stopped by the house that inspired Hawthorne's _House of the Seven Gables, _checked out the Peabody Essex Museum, and vanished by visiting the graveyard that held the memorial for the victims of the witch trials. Each of their names was carved onto a slab of rock that jutted out along the low wall of the cemetery. Among them was the only victim to be pressed to death: Giles Corey. The poor guy had hundreds of pounds of rock stacked on top of his chest until his organs were crushed. Not a good way to go.

"I have to admit, this town does have a certain charm to it." Mom said. "Despite its past and the fact that there seems to be a witchcraft shop every few blocks."

"Yeah, what's with that?" Jack turned to me.

I kicked a stone along the sidewalk. "People just marketing on the whole witch thing. Though some of the shops are legit. This is also a popular place for the Wicca after all." I glanced at the time on Rhapsody's screen. "You guys getting hungry? Ella has a friend who runs a local tavern; she said he'll give you half off on a meal."

"I'm in." Jack said.

Mom was a bit more hesitant. "I'm not sure…"

I rolled my eyes and led her along the street. "I'm sure they have a nice salad selection, Mom."

* * *

The Gallows Tavern was a ramshackle building in the older section of Salem. Despite its gloomy appearance, the inside was bustling with activity. The chatter of patrons filled the warm air and seeped out into the streets. I approached a seating hostess.

"Excuse me." I practically had to shout over the din.

The girl looked up; one of her eyes was wheat-gold in color and the other a soft rose hue. She smiled. "Yeah?"

"Is Bernie here?"

She nodded. "Hang on a sec. Oy Bernie!" she bellowed.

"Yeah?" someone called over the roar of the customers.

"Someone to see ya."

"I'm coming." A tall, gray haired man waded through the sea of diners. No one seemed to notice the silver ermine resting on his shoulders. "How can I help you?"

"I'm Val Darby, I'm a friend of Ella Longwing."

Bernie grinned, his slate gray and bluish-purple eyes brightening. "Ah yeah, Ella said you might be dropping by." He shook my hand; the ermine tilted its little furry head, examining me. "Pleasure to meet you. Ell's told me a few stories about you, heard you have a tendency to get into trouble."

"Trust me, it's not on purpose." I said, stepping to the side to let Mom and Jack through. "This is my mother June and my brother Jack."

"How'd you do." He shook both their hands. "I'm guessing you all are looking for a spot to eat?"

"If it's not too much trouble." Mom said.

"Not at all." The tavern owner boomed. "All the tables are taken but there are still a few spots open along the bar." He led us through the crowd.

"So is it usually so crazy?" Mom asked.

"Nah, this is the summer crowd. Doesn't get nearly so nutty the rest of the year. But business is still good; we're lucky to be a favorite for both locals and tourists." He led us to a row of stools. "Help yourselves to a seat; I'll be right back with the menus."

He left and I turned to Mom. "What do you think?"

Mom shrugged. "Not bad, I suppose. But the name Gallows Tavern is a bit morbid."

"All part of the image, Ma'am." Bernie came back around behind the bar and handed Mom and Jack menus. He turned to me. "Ella said something about you having some special diet or something."

Or something being I didn't eat anything at all. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that. The food looks good though."

He waved away my apology. "It's fine, kiddo." He turned back to Mom. "So the tavern name. This building has been here for almost two-hundred years. But it went by the name Rylie's Pub until about fifty years ago when the town council decided to change it to try and draw in more visitors." Bernie rolled his eyes. "Personally, I don't think it needed the name change. I say let the food and company do the talking."

"Here, here." Jack chimed in. "And by company do you mean the living or the dead kind?"

Bernie grinned. The ermine hopped off his shoulder and scuttled along the bar. It took a flying leap and landed on Jack's head.

Jack stiffened. "I'm gonna take a guess and say you're proving a point."

The ermine blew air in his ear then jumped off and shuffled back to Bernie. Jack touched the top of his head as if to check to see if there really wasn't anything there. "So am I supposed to tip you for that or what?"

Bernie laughed. "Nah, just seeing the reactions is enough. So you know what you're going to eat?"

Mom and Jack placed their orders and Bernie hurried back behind a set of double doors into the kitchen. As I sat at the bar I took in my surroundings. A group of old men sat at one end of the bar, arguing amongst themselves. A family of four sat by an empty fireplace. A teenage couple was busy cuddling in a secluded corner. The rest of my observations were cut short when the door to the tavern slammed open and in marched a trio of bleached blond girls who looked more at home on a beach in Miami than in New England. The girls walked over to the bar, the middle one taking point, just as Bernie came out of the kitchen. His smile immediately vanished upon seeing them.

He sighed tiredly. "Can I help you?"

"Where's Samantha?" The center blond demanded. "I want an answer from her after that bogus reading she did."

"She's working right now." Bernie said through gritted teeth. "So I suggest you three leave before I gladly tell the cops that you've been harassing my employee." He and the lead blond had a stare-off for a good two minutes before the girls stormed out.

"What was that about?" Jack asked.

"Tiffany and her posse, spoiled girls who got bored and decided to dabble in ʻwitchcraftʼ. Think they have powers." Bernie rolled his eyes. "The only powers they have are to annoy almost everyone in town. And now they've set their sights on Sam, poor girl better be prepared."

"What did they mean by reading?" I asked.

The tavern owner scratched his jaw in thought. "Well, see, Sam can sort of hear and see things."

"A lot of people in this town can ʻsort of hear and see thingsʼ too." I pointed out.

"No that's not what I meant." Bernie chuckled. "Sam can sense things that have yet to happen. It's not an exact art and she'll be the first to tell you that nothing is precise."

Mom stared at him. "You mean she can see the future?"

Bernie shrugged. "Pretty much. I mean, there are those who can see the dead and gone, why can't there be those that see what has yet to come?"

So there was a girl that could see the future? I guess I just learned something new then. I stared off, lost in thought until the food arrived. Mom had ordered a Caesar salad but Jack had gotten a lobster, and man-oh-man did that lobster look good. Bright red with wisps of steam curling off of it, there was a little dish of butter sitting beside it.

If I could, I would've been drooling. So not fair.

I sighed and hopped off the stool. "I'm gonna go get some fresh air."

I wove between tables until I reached the door. Stepping out onto the street, I paused to admire the mid July sunset over the tops of the gabled rooftops.

"Alright, fess up. What did you really see?"

I turned my head towards the voice and started to walk around the building.

"I told you what I saw; just because you're bitching about it doesn't mean it won't happen, especially since you _are_ bitching about it."

I rounded the tavern to see the troublesome trio surrounding a girl in an apron and rubber gloves. Though outnumbered the girl seemed calm. "I told you, you're going to get your ass kicked if you don't leave me alone."

"Is that a threat?" Tiffany asked, practically nose to nose with the girl.

"No it's what I saw. So I suggest you let me have my break in peace."

The girl lifted a bottle of orange soda up to drink but the blond slapped it away.

"Hey, I wasn't done drinking that!"

"Oh and what are you going to do about it?"

Alright, things were starting to look serious. Time to intervene. "Everything ok here?" I asked, approaching them.

The trio scowled at me. "Get lost, tramp."

She did _not_ just call me that. "Excuse me?"

The girl smirked. "You're in for it now.

"What'd you call me?" I asked, advancing toward them.

"I said shove off, slu—"

"That's strike two." I held up two fingers, summoning Bast. "Want to see what happens on strike three? Go ahead."

Tiffany rolled her eyes, reached into her purse, and brought out a black candle. "Want to see what happens when you meddle in someone else's business?"

"A black candle? Seriously? What, did you three miss the casting call for _Hocus Pocus_?"

She held up a lighter. "With this candle I can summon the ghost of Giles Corey. So unless you want to be tormented by a spirit for the rest of your days I suggest you back off."

Being tormented by spirits was kind of my job.

"Oooh, I'm all aquiver with fright." I deadpanned.

She flicked the lighter.

_Euros._ I snapped my fingers and the flame blew out.

She frowned and flicked the lighter again.

I snapped my fingers again. Smirking as she struggled to bring the flame back. "Some witches you are. You know you don't even have a cat. Seriously, don't all witches have cats." I smiled as I heard a low feline growl echo from the shadows. Out from behind bushes and trash bins emerged dozens of cats from the common stray to the most pampered house pet. And all feline eyes were on the trio.

"I hope none of you have any allergies." I stepped to the side.

With an almost lion-like snarl the cats bolted towards the girls. The trio shrieked and ran off with the felines in hot pursuit.

"So am I still cursed or what?" I called after them though they were too far to hear.

There was a sigh behind me. "You sure took your time getting here."

I turned to see the girl sitting on a stack of crates holding another bottle of Fanta.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say you're Sam."

She took a swig of her soda. "And you're…uh little help here."

"You don't know my name?" I smirked. "They said you could see the future."

"I saw that you would come, that doesn't mean I would know your name."

"It's Val."

Sam nodded at me. "Nice to meet you, Val. You're like Bernie, aren't you? You're a spook spotter."

"That's not the technical name, but yeah." I shrugged. "And what exactly are you?"

"Dishwasher." She said, taking another sip of soda. "Technically that _is_ my job here. But as for the other thing, I don't know exactly what the name is, I just see shit. Speaking of," she pointed to a stack of crates next to hers. "I owe you, so I'll do a reading."

"Uh, no thanks. I already read my horoscope for the month."

Sam snorted. "I'm way better than any horoscope or a deck of tarot cards, now sit."

Eh, what did I have to lose?

I sat.

Sam placed her soda on the ground and removed her gloves. "Alright hold out your hands, palms up."

I did. She placed her hands atop mine.

"Uh, is that it?"

"Hold on, it takes a minu—HOLY SHIT!" Sam jerked her hands back, losing her balance and toppling off the crates.

"Are you ok?"

She sat up, panting. "Hang on a sec." she lifted the bottle and chugged the rest of the soda. "I was not prepared for all that. One thing's for sure though," she fixed me with a look. "You aren't human."

Crap.

I rubbed the back of my head. "Uh, I guess I should go."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa we're not done." Sam grabbed my arm. "I promised you that reading, and regardless of whether or not you classify as a _hominus_, you're still getting going to have your future told."

"But what about what just happened?"

"I wasn't prepared that's all, that was a lot to see. Now," her expression getting serious. "Hands out."

I did as I was told, and this time Sam slowly placed her hands over mine. She took several deep breaths. While she was doing that I happened to glance at her eyes. They were a leaf green with flecks of gold in them. As I watched, the golden spots grew until it covered the entire eye, pupil and all.

Now I was convinced this chick was legit.

Sam took another deep breath, her gaze distant. "Ok, ok, just give me a sec; there's a lot of stuff. I can tell you one thing: you're gonna have one _long_ life. Ok, where to start? Um you're looking for another home."

"What? Why?" Would the base be destroyed?

"You're first home is getting too crowded more…uh troops are coming; you're trying to find a place for them to stay."

"Well that's good, I guess." I shrugged

"Yeah but there are also more of the others coming too, those red eyed ones."

"But my home isn't gone?"

Sam shook her head. "No, at least not for now."

Not for now?

"Plus one of the newcomers really doesn't like you. He's kind of stuck up. Now what else? You're in a glacier, looking at someone frozen in the ice; you're plunging to the bottom of the ocean…there are sea serpents—"

"Sea serpents?" I squeaked.

"You have a problem with sea serpents?" Sam asked.

"The sea part I'm ok with, the serpent not so much."

She shrugged. "Well these don't seem particularly aggressive. Moving on, you're working at an agency, trying to stop some creepy guy with scars."

Five bucks says it's Silas.

"Um…you're not particularly fond of your pinky finger on your left hand are you?" she grimaced.

WHAT? "A little bit, yeah."

"Oh. Well then I'd learn to go without it if I were you. Now, getting back to your job."

"Whoa, whoa wait, how the hell do I lose my pinky finger?!" I all but shouted.

She ignored me. "Your work partner is kinda weird though. Tall guy with dark hair…paranoid about aliens…I'm getting a ʻSʼ for the last name but not much after that. There's a fleet of huge metal bugs; a warship that's flying on its own. And there's four…no five things that you'll need to find." Sam grimaced in concentration. "Everything's getting kind of blurry at this part. You destroy one of those five things but something bad happens because of it. Time goes out of whack. You get forgotten. But you find others…gah! I can't see much after that; this is getting frustrating."

Tell me about it, at least she wasn't losing a finger. "Maybe you should try another route. Uh, there's this…guy that I like."

She smiled at that. "Oh yeah, him. Let me tell you now, it ain't going to be no fairy tale romance. It's going to be rough; you two will have your issues. You're going to have to really fight for it. But what you two got will be the kinda stuff that lasts; the stuff that can tough out even the worst shit that life throws at you." She paused. "And your family, that's some tough stuff too, I'll keep in mind never to piss off your eldest daughter."

"Eldest daughter?"

"Um, I'm not sure what else to say. I see flashes of stuff but some of it doesn't make much sense. There are lots of big battles; many new faces to see. But it all ends in darkness."

"You mean death?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, you're very much alive. It's just that everything around you is dark, chaotic, but in a good way if that makes any sense."

"Not really. Are you done?"

"Yeah, I think so." She let go of my hands and sighed, pulling out another bottle of Fanta from seemingly nowhere. Her eyes returned to their previous shade of green. "Let me tell you, that was some weird stuff I saw. I swear there were even robot dinosaurs. Robot dinosaurs! And the t-rex was giving you a look."

"What kind of look?" I asked, not really looking forward to being chased by the robotic version of _The Land Before Time_ gang. "Like I would make a good meal?"

"That or he wanted to take you out to a good meal." Sam said, taking a long gulp of soda.

"Pardon?" I didn't think I heard that right.

"There's gonna be tension between him and you, that's all I'm saying. Can't tell if it's good tension or bad tension, but it's there. Oh, and try to get the triceratops into counseling, that guy has anger issues."

I stared at her. "There is so much that's messed up in that statement that I don't even know where to begin."

She shrugged. "Try not to think too hard on it; you'll end up making more of a mess for yourself if you try to change it." She glanced at her watch and stood. "Right, my break time's up, I better get back to the kitchen. It's been lovely but I must return to my dirty dishes now."

"Uh, well thanks, I guess."

"No problem." She reached out to open the back door to the tavern but stopped. "Oh wait, there's one more thing."

"What?"

"When you get on that sailboat, make sure your mom wears your jacket." She turned to leave but stopped again. "And one more little last thing."

"What?"

"Make sure chief Burns has a good set of earplugs; he's going to need them."

"Who?" But Sam was already gone, leaving me to ponder what she'd seen in my future.

Both the good and the bad.

**If the fortune telling didn't make much sense, it's ok. It's not supposed to (I can't give away all the important plot points of VSparks). By the way, can anyone guess who Val's future work partner is going to be? If you need another hint watch any of the 3 Transformers movies; he's in all of them…sadly. **

**And now it's onto Griffin Rock (though I can tell you that it's not their intended destination). **

**Reviews? Pleeeease?**


	4. Crash Landing

**Alright, Rescue-bots time! Whoo! I originally thought of this story when I saw "The Haunting of Griffin Rock" episode and thought it would be cool if there was a bit more mystery to the Lady of Griffin Rock's tale. So here it is! **

**Oh, and one quick question. Do you all want this fic to be before the end of season 1 of rb, where Frankie and Doc Greene don't know about the bots, or after when they do know about the bots? Let me know please. **

**I don't own transformers. **

* * *

**Griffin Rock Two-Hundred Years Ago **

Lightning lit up the night sky as Griffin Rock was battered by the beginnings of a brutal storm. Large waves crashed against the shore, as if attempting to drown the island and its small community under its breakers. Most citizens were shut up safely in their homes, huddled around their warm stoves. All except for one family, standing on the harbor docks. A small fishing vessel bobbed alongside them, the waves tossing it about like a child's toy.

The lone woman of the group clutched her husband. "Why? Why must you go tonight of all nights? Can you not see that the devil himself is churning up those yonder waves to drown you in the depths?"

The husband rubbed her shoulder in comfort. "Charlotte, you know why we must go; the creatures are gathering en masse, if their numbers become too strong who knows what havoc they could wreck on Griffin Rock and all the coastal towns." The man smiled sadly down at his wife just as another bolt of lightning flashed, highlighting his sandy brown and electric blue eyes. Eyes that his three sons bore as well, a rare occurrence among their kind. "We are the only ones who can put a stop to the sea demons' schemes."

The youngest of the boys, no older than thirteen, trotted up to his mother and grasped her hand. "Do not worry, Mama, we will return soon." The boy pointed to a cliff that looked out over the sea. "Stand there and look for us; you shall see our sails coming over the horizon before long."

Charlotte hugged her youngest son tightly. "Just come home to me, all of you. Come home to me."

The family parted ways. The father and sons sailing off into the storm while Charlotte watched, staring out at the waves long after their little vessel disappeared over the stormy horizon.

Rain began to pour down as the wind whipped the waves into a white froth. But still Charlotte stood upon the docks, her long blond hair billowing in the tempest.

"Please," whispered the Lady of Griffin Rock. "Come home to me."

* * *

"Val. Val? VAL!"

I jerked out of my thoughts. "Huh?"

Mom looked at me with concern. "Are you alright? You've been kind of quiet ever since we left Salem."

"Just thinking about…things." I sighed, looking out over the waves that passed beneath the hull of the ship. My mind was still trying to makes sense of the reading.

_Try not to think too hard on it; you'll end up making more of a mess for yourself if you try to change it. _Sam's words echoed in my mind. I shook myself; she was right, there was no point in stressing over what might be when there's more than enough to stress over in the now.

That still didn't stop me from going out and buying a pack of earplugs and sticking a note on the back: _Get these to chief Burns…whoever he is._

It didn't hurt to be a little paranoid, especially considering where we currently were. The last part of the trip consisted of a day cruise along some of the Maine coastline. Our vessel was a large sailboat. The ship left out of Bangor and was heading north. There were about a dozen people on the boat, not counting the crew.

_When you get on that sailboat, make sure your mom wears your jacket. _

I glanced over to see Mom shivering in the cool ocean breeze. She smiled bashfully at me. "I left my coat in the car."

Ok, I can take a hint.

I took off my jacket, the jacket that had been a birthday gift from Lola, the jacket that currently held a dozing Rhapsody in one pocket and the pack of earplugs in the other, and handed it to Mom.

"Oh Sweetie, I don't want you to get cold."

I smiled. "It's fine, the cold doesn't bother me that much."

"Thanks." Mom put the jacket on, zipping it up. "Peaceful out here isn't it?"

I watched as a gull dived down among the waves then came up with a wriggling fish, it's scale glistening in the afternoon sunlight. "Yeah, it's very relaxing. Unless you're prone to seasickness." I grinned.

Mom rolled her eyes. "Jack's feeling fine by the way."

"Did he barf?"

Mom lightly elbowed me in the side. "No, he just had a really bad headache. It only lasted an hour though."

"Nice to know that you care so much, Val."

I turned to see Jack walking toward us, keeping one hand on the railing.

I grinned at him. "What are big sisters for?"

Jack snorted and leaned against the railing beside me. "That sure is a lot of water. Lots and lots of water." he was starting to look a little green.

"Maybe we should go below for a while." I said. There was a nice sitting area below deck. "I spotted a deck of cards; I'll teach you guys how to play presidents and idiots."

I led them down the short set of steps and grabbed a small table by a pothole. We spent the next two hours playing a variety of card games and looking out the tiny window at the surroundings. Another half hour later I began to notice a light throbbing ache in my ears. Absentmindedly rubbing them, I glanced up from my current poker hand. Mom was relaxed and happy. Jack, on the other hand, looked disoriented. He kept shaking his head and putting a hand against the side of his head.

"You ok?" I asked.

He frowned. "Not sure, my ears feel funny; I keep thinking that I'm hearing something."

I was about to mention my own ear troubles when a commotion rose up from an old couple seated near us.

"Jeff are you listening to me? Jeff? Jeff!" the woman was shaking her husband but getting no response.

The old man wasn't asleep, wasn't having a heart attack or anything. He simply sat there, staring straight ahead in a daze. Just then the ship rocked so hard we had to grip the table to steady ourselves.

"What's that about? The weather reports said it would be clear skies and smooth sailing all day." Mom muttered.

I looked through the porthole and cursed. "Since when have the weathermen ever gotten it right?"

The distant sky was darkened by massive thunderheads. The sea was beginning to grow choppy. The ship should've been turning back, but it kept its course.

"I'm going up top to see what's what." I said. I walked past a family of four that had just come down the steps, the woman struggling to guide her husband to a seat while the children kept asking what was wrong. The man sported the same expression as the old timer.

On deck things were eerily still. There should have been crewmen hurrying about, adjusting the sails in preparation for the approaching storm, but there was nothing. I noticed a crewman standing by the railing; his eyes had that same distant look.

Yeah, something was definitely not right.

I approached the helm, passing more silent crewmen, and saw the captain was just like the others. And to make matters worse, he was steering us straight towards the storm.

I pulled on his shoulders but he wouldn't budge. "Ok, captain, snap out of it." I waved my hands in front of his eyes, shouted in his ear, even kicked him in the shins but nothing worked. Fed up, I raised a fist and punched him, knocking him out. "You're now releaved of duty." I said as he sank to the ground.

Rapid foots pounded against the deck as a female member of the crew came running. "Oh my God!" she shrieked when she saw the captain slumped on the deck.

I grimaced. "Sorry but he wouldn't snap out of whatever he was in."

"The others…the other men are like that too. I don't know what's gotten into them." The woman said.

"Well for right now, we need to get away from that storm."

She nodded and grabbed the helm, struggling to turn the ship away from the growing tempest. A large gust swept over the deck, tearing the large wheel from the woman's grasp.

"It's no use." She cried. "The sails are caught in the wind, and I can't take them down by myself. We're getting dragged into the storm!"

_Zephyros, Euros._ I summoned the two wind spirits to my consciousness. _Is there anything you can do?_

_Bad, bad winds. _Zephyros hissed.

_We no have control. Storm come from water, not sky. _Euros said.

_What do you mean? _I asked.

Euros buzzed in discomfort. _Storm called here from beneath sea. _

_ Bad voices call bad winds. _Zephyros growled. _Evil in water. _

Well that was just perfect, wasn't it? I turned toward the woman. "This ships got lifeboats?"

She nodded. "Two, enough to carry the passengers and crew."

"Get them ready, I'll go below and make sure everyone is in live vests."

"We're abandoning ship?" she squeaked.

I braced myself as a wave broke over the deck. "You got a better idea?"

I hurried below, the ache in my ears increasing. The rest of the passengers had all gathered below deck. All the men had the same dazed looks. Jack, though disoriented, was still with aware of his surroundings thankfully. He seemed to be the only one, besides the two young boys, that didn't have the same symptoms as the rest of the males on the ship.

"Everyone, grab a life vest and put it on, we're abandoning ship." I raised my voice over the uproar. "Most of the crew is incapacitated. The storm is drawing the ship in; as a precaution, we're going into the lifeboats understand?"

Everyone hurriedly grabbed life vests from under the seats, struggling to put the flotation devices on the dazed men. I was helping Jack into his when I saw Mom starting to take of the jacket in order to put her vest on.

"Don't." I said, taking the life vest and adjusting the straps before placing it on her over top the coat. "Keep that jacket on, ok?"

Her eyes were confused and scared. "Why?"

"Just a feeling." I mumbled.

Once the other passengers had put on the gear, I led them up on deck. The female crew member staggered over to me.

"The life boats are ready, but I'll need help getting the other crewmembers in them." She yelled over the now roaring squall.

"I'll help." Jack said looking determined.

"Me too." Mom walked up beside him.

With their help we managed to get the rest of the crew into the lifeboats as well as the passengers. The first boat was already in the water when we began preparing the second one for the drop. A loud crackle filled the air as a bolt of lightning struck the main mast, igniting the sails instantly. Without a second thought, I shoved the female crew member into the last boat, and ignoring her protest, lowered it into the water.

"Now what do we do?" Jack asked, watching the boat drift away.

Shit, I'd forgotten that he and Mom were still with me. "Jump into the water." I ordered.

"What?!"

"Trust me on this."

Mom and Jack looked at me then at the burning sails then at each other. Grasping each other's hands, they climbed over the railing and jumped into the frothy waters below. I waited a moment then jumped in after them. As I hit the water I began the transformation, my clothes shredding as my body shifted from human to dragon. A second later I broke through the surface with roar. My eyes scanned the water until I spotted Mom and Jack, their orange life vests bright against the dark grey ocean. With a growl I made my way to them, breaking through the waves. Jack helped Mom climb onto my back when I swam up beside them. Once they were on my back, I unfurled my wings. After a few strained flaps I managed to get airborne.

And that was when the hard part began.

I had flown through some rough weather before, but never anything as bad as this. Wind currents were blowing every which way, making my pulling at my wings as I struggled against them. The dull ear ache that I'd been experiencing in human form now was a sharp pain to my sensitive audio receptors. There was a sound, like the shrill pitch of a dog's whistle: soundless to humans but painful to the canines, that rose up from the deep below the waters. Stealing myself against the pain, I flew on. I battled against the winds for who knows how long when I say it: distant lights on the water. As I flew nearer, the shape of an island came through the gloom.

I roar in excitement, doubling my speed.

"Look, there's land!" I heard Jack yell to Mom.

We were less than a half mile away from the island when I felt it: an electric charge filling the air. Shit, I was a metal dragon; a metal dragon right in the middle of a thunderstorm.

I flipped onto my side, making Mom and Jack lose their grips and fall into the water. Not a second later a bolt of lightning split the sky, striking me in the side. I bellowed in pain as the agonizing shock ripped through me. Unable to control myself, I spiraled out of control, the wind pushing me toward the island. I saw a rush of green beneath me as the ground came up to greet me.

I hit the ground hard.

Then everything went black.

* * *

Police Chief Charlie Burns hummed as he sat at his post at the comm. desk of the firehouse. It was still a bit early in the morning and the chief was all too happy to enjoy his cup of coffee in the quiet. It had been a hectic past few days: freak storms had been appearing out of nowhere in the area, causing the need for more than a few water rescues. In fact it was because of another of those storms that the patriarch of the Burns family was even up that early. He'd gotten a message from the Maine maritime emergency channel. Apparently a touring sailboat had been caught up in one of the storms the other night, just a few miles away from Griffin Rock. Thankfully most of the passengers and crew had been found adrift on lifeboats.

All, except three.

The coast guard was already out combing the area but they wanted the chief on the line in case they needed extra sets of eyes for search and rescue.

Chief Burns was about to take a sip of his much needed coffee when one of the phone lines lit up.

"Griffin Rock Emergency." The chief answered gruffly, picking up the phone. "Mr. Buffkin? Wait…slow down, sir…_what_ landed in your field?" He frowned as he listened to the caller's frantic voice. "Ok, calm down Mr. Buffkin. I'll get the team together, and we'll be right over." He hung up the phone, shaking his head in disbelief. With a sigh he stood and stretched, heading down to the main area of the firehouse while muttering under his breath. "Only in Griffin Rock."

Meanwhile in a bunker beneath the firehouse, four Rescue-bots were in a debate over a movie they had seen the previous night.

"Well you can say what you want about it, but I thought it was a cute movie." Blades, the bright orange and white helicopter 'bot said, crossing his arms and pouting.

The green bulldozer Boulder nodded. "Wouldn't it be nice if everyone broke out into song and dance every once in a while?"

"You two have been watching way too many musicals." Heatwave, the red fire engine, scoffed. "Though it was kind of funny watching those Gogans getting thrown into the mud."

"I noticed several Maine maritime violations throughout the feature." The blue and white police car, Chase added. "Operating a light house while under the influence of alcohol, improper use of a fog horn, improper use of a harpoon—"

Heatwave shook his head. "Chase, they were trying to harpoon a cartoon dragon; I don't think any law covers that."

"I was so scared that they were going to get Elliot at that part." Blade squeaked.

"That is another issue that detracts from the movie." Chase continued in his monotone voice. "This dragon named Elliot was responsible for the destruction of several public buildings yet the town praised him as a hero. Furthermore, with his miniscule wingspan and large body mass, he should not have been able to even hover over the ground let alone fly. This creature not only defies statutory laws but also the laws of physics."

"Once again, Chase," Heatwave sighed. "It was a cartoon dragon. It doesn't exist!"

"I should think not." Chase nodded. "If all dragons were to have such horrible wing to body ratio none of them would survive in the wild, especially if all of them had bright green skin and pink wings."

Before any of the others could comment, the alarm went off, signaling that they were needed on a mission. Stepping on the platform, they rose up to the firehouse; the Burns family was there to greet them.

"What's up?" Heatwave asked.

His partner Kade shrugged and yawned. "Dunno, Dad wouldn't tell us much. Just said we were needed over by Buffkin's farm."

"Hope this won't take long." Dani, the team's flying enthusiast, mumbled. The poor girl was practically dozing on her feet. "There's a nice fluffy pillow with my name on it."

"Don't get your hopes up, team." Chief Burns walked toward the group. "I really have no idea what we're getting into. I don't even think I'll believe it until I see it myself."

"See what, Dad?" Graham, the engineer of the family, asked.

"Like I said: I'm not even sure myself." The chief pressed the comm. tab on his collar. "Cody, you ready up in the command center?"

"Yep." chirped the youngest member of the Burns family. "Let me know what you find, ok?"

"Alright everyone, let's get it in gear and move out." The chief ordered.

The team hurried into action, the Rescue-bots transforming to carry their human partners. Chase, Boulder, and Heatwave sped along the streets while Blades took to the air. The copter bot and his partner made it to Buffkin's farm in less than five minutes. They crested over the trees to get the first view of the farmer's field.

And what they saw nearly made Blades stall in midair.

Dani rubbed her eyes. "I didn't fall asleep while flying, did I?"

"I don't think so, otherwise how would you be talking to me?" Blades said, though he too was stunned at the sight.

"Dani, Blades, what do you see?" Heatwave asked over the comm.

Dani just shook her head, and directed the helicopter to land. "Dad's right, there's no way they'd believe this unless they saw this for themselves." They touched down on the other side of the trees just as the others pulled up.

Kade hopped out first. "Well?"

Before Dani could answer, Mr. Buffkin came storming up, pitchfork in hand and an angry scowl on his face. "Get that thing out of my field before it wakes up and eats my cows!"

"What thing?" Kade asked.

"A dragon that's what! A great big stinking dragon!" the farmer threw his hands in the air to add emphasis. "The thing must've crashed into my field last night during the storm."

Kade smirked. "I think you've been spending too much time out on the farm."

Buffkin rounded on him. "Don't believe me? Go look for yourself! But if that thing wakes up and bites your leg off don't come crying to me!" the farmer stomped off.

"He's right." Blades said, transforming once Buffkin was out of sight. "It really is a dragon. But not the sweet kind that help kids find families."

The other bots transformed as well. "Blades, did you fly a little too high there?" Heatwave asked.

Dani put her hands on her hips. "It's not a joke; there really is a dragon in that field."

"Well seeing is believing." Graham said and began to walk through the line of trees with Boulder close behind him. They stopped short upon entering the clearing.

Boulder's jaws were agape. "Amazing."

The others emerged from behind them a moment later. Whatever arguments they were having immediately ceased and they simply stared down at the field and the prone body of a large, black and silver metal dragon.

Eventually Heatwave nudged Chase. "Still think a dragon couldn't survive in the wild?" his voice barely above a whisper for fear of waking the creature.

"It seems I will have to amend my previous statement." Chase said. "That creature's body size to wingspan ratio, as well as its potent looking fangs and claws, would make it a formidable predator in the wild." The police car concluded. "So formidable, that it should be listed as dangerous."

**Oooh. What's going to happen to Val? Are Jack and June alright? What is causing all these massive storms? And what does the Lady of Griffin Rock have to do with all this? Tune in to the next chapter to find out! That would've sounded cooler in a cheesy announcer's voice. Did I do the bots' characters right? I struggled a bit with them, particularly Chase. Oh, and in case anyone was wondering about the movie they were talking about. It's an old Disney movie called **_**Pete's Dragon. **_**It's completely corny and utterly adorable and I love it, it's one of my favorite movies. If you've never seen it (and shame on you if you haven't) I would definitely recommend it as a nice feel-good movie to watch. **


End file.
